Hi, I'm new here and have a similar question. I was recently diagnosed with cluster headaches and have been taking 120 mg verapamil for about 6 weeks. After taking it for a little over 2 weeks, I stopped having attacks (!) 5 days ago, I forgot to take the medicine for 2 days. The past 3 days I have had attacks again at night. They are very severe, but these are only lasting about 15- 30 minutes total. Previously they would last about 2 hours. Is it possible that skipping those 2 doses made the headaches start again? How does verapamil effect the headaches? Is it possibly just making them shorter? Also, is it helpful to take it in the evening instead of the morning? I've been doing mornings because of insomnia but I only get attacks at night... Sorry for the long post and thanks for any advice!

Chops,

Oh my gosh I need to clarify what I meant--first let me say I agree with you 100% that CHers are some of the bravest people in the world!!!  I have been episodic CH since I was 14, and all I meant was that I am afraid to stop the verapamil even though I have O2 available if the headaches were to come back at night--in my younger days I had a thicker skin (for whatever reason) and would have been able to deal with just seeing for one night if they came back if I had O2 available.  I shouldn't have called myself a wimp though!  It is surprising to me that I am so fearful of them returning I guess, because I feel that I have been dealing with episodes for so long it would seem one night should not make me so afraid.  But please accept my apology I feel that CHers are unbelievably brave and also since people who don't have CH don't really understand what we are going through it is not like others are able to recognize how brave we are and that makes it all the more courageous that we deal with these horrible headaches.
ViolinVixen, yes it is possible that because you stopped taking the medicine that is why the headaches came back, and also yes it is possible that the medicine is making them shorter when they came back.  My doctor told me that the way the verapamil works is that it bonds with something in the hypothalamus.  He also told me that the frequency of my headaches during cycle was a result of not having been on verapamil in the past.
As far as taking it in the morning or before bed, I am a nighttime sufferer so I take it at night.  You wrote that because of insomnia you take it in the morning, but it might make more sense to take it at night because it can help you sleep (doctor said that) and also it makes sense to take it before the time when your headaches normally strike.  My doctor told me to wait 2 full weeks without any head pain (twinges, shadows, etc.) before stopping taking the medicine.  He really stressed that point, because he said, if I don't wait the full 2 weeks that the headaches could resurface and come back at that point.  I hope some of this was helpful.  I also take 12 mg melatonin and 4 dramamine at night along with the verapamil.  I was experiencing very frequent nighttime headaches and so far this combo is working and has suppressed any attacks.  I hope that you can also go back to being painfree!!!

Something I haven't seen published anywhere is the use of Nortriptyline. I was offered Verapamil when my CH was first diagnosed. I was also offered Nortriptyline. I was told Nortriptyline is easier on the body. What I found was that it takes awhile to build up enough to do any good. My prescription was for 10mgs caps. I started with one for 3 days then two for 3 days then three for 3 days and so on. I now take six everyday while I think I am in season. When I think my season is ended I start to reduce in the same way as I started. It works for me. I have never seen a posting for this before so, I thought it might help.

For those of you that are on verapamil. The vitamin D regimen is worth a try as a preventative, it Has a good record of becoming pain free and is a safer option.

Hoppy

RRavik wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2016 at 12:20pm:


Nortriptyline is the first preventive I used and it was reasonably effective, but I found that verapamil did a much better job at preventing CHs and later I moved to D3 which was even more effective.

As to how well each will work for you, you'll need to try them to compare how effective they are, what the side effects are for you, etc.